The same uncertainty over the coronavirus that sent stocks tumbling is also rippling up and down the Jersey Shore, where the tourism industry is wondering not only if vacationers will be willing or able to travel to the beach, but also whether foreign students who typically work as servers, ride operators, car parks or counter help will be available to staff those jobs this summer.

“It’s the topic of the day,” said Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, whose home page includes recommendations for safety measures businesses can take against the COVID-19 virus.

Regardless of tourists’ demand for LBI hoodies, water park tickets or rounds of miniature golf, a shortage in the supply of labor to provide those summertime goods and services could force businesses to limit their hours, shorten their season, or otherwise cut down on just how much summer fun is had at the shore this year.

“It means that our business along the shore are going to have to rethink their business model. They may have to limit their hours,” Siekerka said. “Our shore businesses are discussing this with their HR folks right now.”

Business owners and tourism officials are wondering whether things could get rough for the Jersey Shore this summer, if the coronavirus limits travel by vacationers and foreign students who fill many of the seasonal jobs the industry depends on. Wind-driven waves crashed against the seawall in North Wildwood in October.
Dale Gerhard | For NJ Advance Media

Like surgical masks that have flown off pharmacy shelves, certainty about the situation is in short supply, and individual businesses may be reluctant even to talk about the potential impact of the COVID-19 virus — or fear of the coronavirus, if not the virus itself — because they don’t know what’s ahead or what to do.

“I think a lot of businesses right now are discussing a lot of what-if scenarios,” said Michael Egenten, vice president for government relations at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, who could not recall another health-related issue that had triggered such uncertainty within the state’s tourism industry or broader business community.

Many of the seasonal workers at the shore are college students from overseas participating in the U.S. State Department’s J-1 Summer Work Travel Program, which grants visas allowing them to “come to the United States to share their culture and ideas with people of the United States through temporary work and travel opportunities,” according to the program’s web page.

New Jersey hosted a total of 10,019 participants in the J-1 program in 2018 — 10th among all states — according to the State Department.

Aside from letting those young workers “share their culture and ideas,” the J-1 program has provided Jersey Shore and other U.S. businesses with a regular supply of fresh-faced, energetic, and still-relatively cheap labor. Foreign seasonal workers have been all the more critical to the shore economy in recent years, officials say, as New Jersey youth are lured away from boardwalk taffy stands and pizza joints by summertime interscholastic athletic programs or more resume-enhancing internships at tech or financial firms.

“They are a significant part of the hiring process for a number of reasons,” Siekerka said of the shore’s J-1 workers. “One is that we are not able to fill the demand for jobs on the Jersey Shore. We already have a labor shortage on the shore.”

Referring to a large amusement-related employer that he declined to name, Egenten said, “One of our members who has a seasonal business at the Jersey Shore said they typically hire hundreds of J-1 visa workers.”

Maria Mastoris, a spokeswoman for the Casino Pier amusement park in Seaside Heights, said typically about 40% of the park’s 500 seasonal workers are students from overseas. Mastoris said the hiring process was still going on, so it was difficult to judge whether the coronavirus would make it harder to fill all the jobs needed.

In a statement emailed to NJ Advance Media, a State Department official did not say whether the department was considering tightening the J-1 program specifically in light of the coronavirus.

“We are working with our interagency partners to protect U.S. citizens at home and abroad from the spread of the virus,” the statement read. “Including appropriate monitoring or quarantines by health authorities and through travel restrictions on at-risk individuals where appropriate.”

Kristin Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Great Adventure, said in an email that hiring is on a par with years past, in advance of the amusement park’s April 6 opening. But Fitzgerald said international workers make up only “a small percent of our staff.”

“However, students from China will not be joining us,” Fitzgerald added, referring to the coronavirus’ country of origin, where there were more than 80,000 confirmed cases and 3,015 known deaths as of Friday, according to the World Health Organization.

Fitzgerald said the health and safety of Great Adventure’s guests was the park’s highest priority, and that sanitation efforts in the park had been enhanced, particularly in public restrooms and food locations and employee break areas, with the addition of anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizers.

“We cannot make predictions about tourism or international travel,” Fitzgerald said. “However we will continue to take direction from the CDC and follow their recommendations.”

A spokeswoman for Six Flags Great Adventure & Safari said hiring is on pace with past years despite concerns among tourism officials that the coronavirus could have an impact on the seasonal labor market this summer.